I was 9 years old when the first space shuttle was launched and I remember as a kid my favourite toy was the Fisher-Price Alpha Probe. Like many kids I was fascinated with the mystery and excitement of space. As a teacher I was equally as excited to receive a pin which flew onboard STS-135, the final space shuttle flight in 2011.

Currently we are witnessing a major shift where companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Google Lunar XPrize and others are taking steps into the space industry that for many decades was the territory of governments. There is no question this growth will bring new opportunities and careers paths for our current students. As a district careers coordinator I feel that the education system needs to prepare students for the opportunities that will come in their future, whether it be in the space industry or any technology-related field.

This was my motivation to develop SPACE SCHOOL which is an online resource for students and teachers to help inspire space-related education. In developing Space School I wanted to use the excitement that exists with the space industry and connect it to so many key skills and education that is taking place in schools. STEM, robotics, science, coding, problem solving, physics, math – these are skills that will benefit students not only in the space industry but in almost ANY industry that they choose to work on in the future.

One of the most powerful videos on the Space School website is from SpaceX during the first successful landing of their Falcon rocket. This video is powerful due to the technological achievement but also the sheer joy of the young staff at SpaceX in their accomplishment and what it means in terms of their ultimate goal of trying to reach Mars within the next decade.

Historic astronaut Buzz Aldrin uses the term Generation Mars to describe the students we are currently teaching because they will be the first generation to see the reality of humans being on Mars. Let’s work to prepare those students not only for the Mars landing but for all of the technological advances that this generation will make.